Night Sky
by hoyteca
Summary: Fox looks at Corneria's night sky and gets a little curious.


Fox looked at the Cornerian night sky. It was beautiful, especially when you were far from the bright Cornerian cities. Above Fox and Krystal were thousands of giant burning balls of gas trillions of miles away.

Fox cuddled next to his wife. It was an unusually cold winter, so the pair wore parkas usually reserved for icier planets. Despite their thick coats, Fox swore he could feel her heat.

He added another log to the fire. He hated the cold, but decided to tough it out. Krystal liked the snow and Fox liked having a reason to cuddle with her.

Fox looked back at the night sky. That was the battlefield he had spent countless hours battling Venom fighters. He knew the asteroid belt like the back of his hand. He had flown close to Lylat's star and saved a planet from complete destruction. He had seen more worlds in one war than most people would see in a lifetime.

And yet, he hadn't seen enough. What about other systems? What were those like? How many had life that asked the same questions he was asking? How many had life period?

Fox made it his goal in life to really explore the galaxy. He had asked Slippy and his new team of scientists and engineers to come up with a way to make that possible. He didn't care if it was a warp gate or space-time distorter. He didn't even care if it was a freezer to keep him alive the entire trip. He just had to see.

Krystal had a similar desire, though not as strong as Fox's. She had wanted to revisit Cerenia, to see if it truly was destroyed. She had always wanted to visit its moon since she was a child. Most of all, she wanted to be with Fox when, or if, it happened.

Slippy was more than happy to work on the solution. He was a scientist at heart, always asking and always looking. To see life on other planets, to see worlds more exotic than he could imagine; those were his dreams. He would feel like a tadpole again, exploring a strange world with great curiosity.

Fox knew Falco would tag along. Maybe it would be because Falco wanted to see hot alien ladies. Maybe it would be because he had loyalty to the fox that refused to abandon him. Or maybe it's because Falco still had that curious baby falcon in him that craved answers and loved seeing weird and exotic things for the first time.

Perhaps it's universal, Fox mused. Everyone's at least a little curious. It didn't matter if it came from an urge to better oneself or a primal fear of the unknown. Those that want to learn, learn to thrive and those who won't learn wind up dead.

Without the technology to do it for real, Fox had to settle with using his imagination. He closed his eyes and thought what it would be like. He imagined breaking the speed of light to reach his destination: a system in a galaxy on the other side of the universe. Why? Why not?

It's a single-star system. It has a yellow star and seven planets- three rocky and four gas giants. Of the rocky planets, only the third has life. The life is primitive, mostly large bacterial colonies. Was that how multi-cellular life developed? The bacterial colonies use photosynthesis to produce food, but, unlike plants, these colonies can move great distances to reach more suitable locations. It developed a primitive central nervous system, capable of reacting to changing soil and seasons as well as obstacles.

Enough of that planet, what about the others? The first gas giant was too close to the star for an atmosphere and the second one is covered in scorched storms of acidic clouds over a volcanically-active surface.

The gas giants looked psychedelic, with large storms of multi-colored clouds. Purples and blues danced with reds and yellows in a demonstration of chaotic beauty. They blended seamlessly in some places and clashed in others. Each was surrounded by white and yellow rings.

"Perhaps some day." Fox told himself, disappointed to find himself still stuck on Corneria for the time being. Krystal gave Fox a quick kiss on the cheek. She knew what he was thinking about, having similar thoughts while looking at the night sky.

"One day." They, and their friends, silently promised themselves, "One day we'll visit those stars and see those worlds."


End file.
